Baltimore Washington Eye Center, Maryland

Monday, June 8, 2015

Good news for smokers who
want to reduce their risk of cataracts. Researchers studying the risk of
cataracts among smokers reported in JAMA Ophthalmology found that stopping smoking
decreases the risk of cataracts over time. The researchers followed a total
of 44,371 men, 45 to 79 years old over a 10 year period and the participants
filled out questionnaires on their smoking habits and lifestyles and were then
matched with the Swedish National Day-Surgery Register and local records of
cataract extraction.

The researchers found that smokers of
more than 15 cigarettes a day had a 42% increased risk of cataract surgery
compared with men who had never smoked.It
also found that men who smoked an average of more than 15 cigarettes a day but
had stopped smoking more than 20 years earlier had a 21% increased risk.
Thus, they found a positive association between cigarette smoking and cataract surgery
in men, with a significant increase of cataracts among smokers compared to
those who never smoked.

Also,
stopping smoking was associated with a
statistically significant decrease in risk with increasing time from stopping
smoking. Even heavy smokers had some benefit from quitting smoking.
Further, a previous study from 2005 detailed the relationship between smoking
cessation and cataract risk in women. In this study, they found that after
cessation of smoking, cataract risk in women decreased with time. Women who
smoked 6 to 10 cigarettes a day but had ceased smoking 10 years earlier, and
women who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day but had ceased smoking 20 years
earlier were found to have a relative risk of cataracts not significantly
different from women who had never smoked.

Smoking
cessation seems to decrease the risk of cataract development and the need for
cataract surgery with time, although the risk persists for decades. The higher
the intensity of smoking, the longer it takes for the increased risk to
decline. These findings emphasize the importance of early smoking cessation
and, preferably, the avoidance of smoking altogether.